2010 March | I Should Be Folding Laundry

Archive for March 2010 – Page 3

Custom Canvas Art – a giveaway

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

By Beth

When my friend, Stephanie, from Geezees Canvas Art approached me about doing a giveaway for my readers, I could not resist. Her products are designed by her and the end result is super cool, personalized, PERSONAL art for your walls.

She has amazing talent, a great eye for design. (couldn’t you just have these pieces of art hanging all over your walls?)

Stephanie is generously giving one 10×10 canvas (with words or photo & words) to one lucky winner! An $89 value.

What do you need to do to win? Check out the Geezees Gallery and come back and tell me who you would like to see on your canvas print if you won! (I’M NOSEY, OK?) But don’t worry, if you win, you can choose whatever you want, it doesn’t have to be what you leave in the comments.

But wait, you can get a second entry simply by tweeting about this giveaway! Just leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment.

{oh and please do not say “PICK ME” because I will put a fork in my eye!}

{also, I’m very jealous of whoever the winner will be. There. I said it.}

Open to US residents only … this giveaway will remain open until Tuesday March 23, 2010 at 9:00 pm, CST.

Good luck, friends!

Categories: Giveaways

Look at the stars

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

By Beth

I have this new love and appreciation for the color yellow. It’s colorful outlook, it’s ability to brighten any moment, it’s perfect placement.

My blog is going to be redesigned soon, I hope you’ll see some yellow in it. Okay, I know you’ll see some yellow in it.

Since I’m 40 years pregnant and I wanted to relax today, I sat on the couch and window-shopped at Anthropologie. My eye consistently was drawn to the yellows.

Happy Spring.

{and yes, Happy Spring even though it’s 30 degrees outside with a cold wind and a light sprinkle.)

But still … IT’S SPRING!

Categories: Friendly, stupid crap

Friday Morning Coffee

Friday, March 19th, 2010

By Beth

I’m sitting on my couch, drinking coffee. I am not eating Cocoa Puffs or Chocolate Cheerios because Brian and I are going out for breakfast. We’ve decided to go on a morning “date,” since we figure this will be the last chance for a long, long time to have any kind of date. (which we are totally okay with, of course.)

Our date will consist of breakfast, either with chocolate chip pancakes or a cheese omelette (which would you choose?), a trip to the chiropractor for me, a visit to Target and then to Old Navy. One of my goals today is to get all of our Easter shopping done since I’ll be busy the week before Easter mothering a newborn. The other goal is to not spend a lot of money, things feel so financially tight around here, I need to be careful!

I’m feeling extra crampy today, particularly in my lower back and abdomen. I find it exciting that my body is preparing for labor, even though I will not have a vaginal delivery. I found out the details of BIRTHDAY yesterday and it has made me very excited.

Oh and the baby’s room is nearly 100% complete. I’ll be sharing with you next weekend. (when it’s 100% complete.)

We’ve had amazing weather this week, as I sit I can hear birds singing outside. They must be so happy to be back in our area, there is so much singing! Yesterday, I took the kids to the park with my friends and their kids and everyone else in the world and their kids and it was nice, a little chilly, but the sun was vibrant and the children’s laughter and screams were wonderful to hear. Tomorrow is spring!

All of this sunshine is needed because this week has taken an emotional toll on my family. My brother Dan, left last night for his fourth (YES, FOURTH) tour to Iraq. Dan is an amazing man. Awesome brother, son, husband, Dad. He has three kids. He’ll be gone for one year and my heart, it aches. All of our hearts ache.

I wish you could meet him, he really is one of the funniest guys on earth (and becomes even more hilarious when he’s around his identical twin brother, Dave), the most generous, he has the biggest heart and takes every role in his life very seriously. (he is also responsible for my interest in photography.) I guess this is what makes him such a great soldier, a highly-decorated Major in the Army.

dan

As much as I want this year to go so slow with the baby coming and growing so quickly, I want to snap my fingers and be resting safely on March 19, 2011, knowing that his arrival back home is imminent. And knowing that he is safe.

We could use your prayers for his safety, his heart, his wife’s heart and for their kids. They are all SO STRONG, but we could all use the extra prayers, if you have them. (and please, if you have the chance, could you leave some words of encouragement with my Mom? Your words may seem small, but the impact is immeasurable. This, I promise you.)

dan 2

Give extra hugs this weekend, love extra hard.

That’s an order.

Categories: Family, Pregnancy, stupid crap

You Capture – Reaching

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

By Beth

Hi there, friends!

I am feeling a bit under the weather with a sore throat but the sun is shining and the temperatures are supposed to REACH well into the sixties, so I’m going to pretend like I don’t have a sore throat today and just move on!

{should be easy, right?!}

First things first … one of my very best friends, Sarah Viola, who is probably one of the best designers I have EVER come across, graciously agreed to come up with a whole new fresh look for You Capture. I asked her, she said yes, I told her what I wanted and she delivered perfection on the first try. Love that.

So, with that – here is our new You Capture button!

YouCapture_150x185

Doesn’t it make you want to go pick flowers and take hundreds of photos of grass and buds and butterflies? Does me. I love it. Thank you, Sarah!

(for many of you, if you’ve taken the code directly from the sidebar, it should automatically change, if it doesn’t, by say tomorrow, you may want to add it manually yourself!) But please, do change!

On to the challenge for this week. I liked “reaching.” I certainly wish I had more energy these days to REACH for my camera but I don’t and I’m okay with that being 37 weeks pregnant.

The first thing I thought of with “reaching” was a plant I have in my office. My sister had it sent to me after we lost the twins. Since then, it’s been the coolest plant, it has babies (and the most appropriate times!) and it reaches for the sun. No matter what room I put it in or at what angle, it always turns towards the sun.

When it has babies, it’s leaves are so tiny but within days, literally days, it’s reaching for the sun, just like this:

reaching

Then this morning, I wanted to drive around and capture something reaching outside, the weather is so beautiful and driving around taking photos is one of my favorite things (when I have the energy!) So today, was a good day for it.

I spotted a wooded lot, with bare trees but not completely bare as there were hundreds of birds hanging out in these trees. I rolled down my windows and was overwhelmed by the sound filling my ears, their songs reaching out to so many of us. Many of us who drive by with our windows up, our iPods on the speakers, phones in our hands, having no idea of THE AMAZING that is taking place RIGHT HERE.

It was beautiful. Also? For the first time, I was grateful for not having any leaves yet because without them, I was able to see these birds who gave me an awesome moment to start my day; their song reaching my ears.

the birds singing

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”
Maya Angelou

So, that, my friends, is my You Capture for this week. I can’t wait to see yours!

(just to give you a heads up, I will be taking two weeks off when the baby is born from You Capture, but my friend, Keli, PHOTOGRAPHER EXTRAORDINAIRE” will be hosting for me! The details to come next week!)

{DON’T FORGET TO READ THE GUIDELINES, MAN.}

YouCapture_300x150

Ah! Another beautiful button!

Okay, next week’s challenge is “A MOMENT.”

Happy Capturing!

Categories: you capture.

And so it is.

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

By Beth

Friends, I’m uncomfortable. I’m teetering on the edge of miserable but what’s keeping me from going straight to miserable is that I think it’s wrong for me to say I’m miserable when I have this beautiful, healthy baby inside my gigantic belly.

So, I’ll leave it at uncomfortable. I’m also feeling grateful, which is nothing new, but now I’m grateful knowing that I am about to end the healthiest pregnancy I have ever had. That, in itself, makes me want to sing to the world. And I probably would if I wasn’t so tired.

But I am so tired.

I’m also grateful that during a dinner out with Lovelyn, Erin and Stephanie last night (BUFFALOCHICKENSANDWICHES – also the reason why I did not live-blog Idol, SORRY!) they made me feel so much better about my discomfort. Erin, could commiserate, Lovelyn told me how she cried at night and Stephanie would continue to say “YOU’RE ABOUT TO HAVE A BABY.”

{And then they’d all take a drink of their fancy, awesome margaritas and giggle because margaritas are awesome and I want one but really I want like ten.}

Anyway, it’s what I needed to hear, I hate complaining but I’m having a hard time not complaining. I find myself apologizing to Brian for complaining and apologizing to my friends for complaining and then not liking myself very much for complaining and I realize the end is near but that doesn’t help my back RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND.

But it does help when I see each of my friends for the first time individually last night and each of them says “you look so cute.” And I groan at them because how could I possibly look cute and then Lovelyn says “just say thank you” and I say “maybe tomorrow” and she laughs and says “okay.”

Even though I wasn’t very comfortable last night, I was very comfortable last night. (ten margaritas would have been helpful, too, but you know how that goes.)

Anyway.

Yesterday, I was 37 weeks, 3 days and I looked like this:

37 weeks

When I showed the picture to Brian, I asked him if it did me justice and he replied with “NOT AT ALL.” So, I’ll leave the rest up to your imagination.

Categories: Friendly, Pregnancy

« Previous Page